I Can Copy Any Talent in One Piece

System Upgrade

The two men Noil had beaten senseless scrambled away without daring to utter a word.

After dispatching the two senior Baroque Works agents, Noil stepped over the bodies strewn across the ground and went back inside.

He stretched out on a large bed and let out a contented groan.

"Now this is the life."

He had only just entered the Grand Line, and he already had a big house to stay in. Not bad at all.

Normally, Noil would only need to spend a few days here for his Log Pose to record the island's magnetic field.

Then he could follow it to the next island.

But one thing bothered him. According to the original story, the next stop after Whiskey Peak was Little Garden.

Two giants had been fighting on Little Garden for years. And because of the island's unusual geography,

a Log Pose needed at least a year to record its magnetic field before it could point to the next island.

Noil had no intention of waiting that long.

His best option was to do what the Straw Hat Pirates had done in the original story: find an Eternal Pose and change course.

Unlike a Log Pose, an Eternal Pose always pointed toward the same island.

Some of Baroque Works' senior agents ought to have one.

Right now, Noil sincerely hoped Crocodile was a persistent man.

He wanted Crocodile to send more people to Whiskey Peak, whether to kill him or recruit him.

Better yet, Crocodile could come in person, and Noil could follow him straight to Alabasta.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine had been practically penniless. Neither had even carried an Eternal Pose to Alabasta.

That made sense. Crocodile ran Baroque Works under the identity of Mr. 0.

His subordinates would never imagine that the boss of a criminal organization was a Shichibukai living all the way over in Alabasta.

Until then, Noil decided to stay on Whiskey Peak. He could wait for Crocodile to send him more opponents while his system finished upgrading.

The Copy Cards the system had awarded before were struggling to keep up with Noil's progress. Hopefully, the upgrade would make them more useful.

While Noil slept in on his comfortable bed,

the unfortunate Mr. 5 reported his failed mission and everything he knew about Noil to his superiors through a Den Den Mushi.

In Rain Dinners, Alabasta's luxurious casino, a Den Den Mushi wearing sunglasses chattered away with a miserable expression.

After a long while, a slender, unadorned hand gently hung up the receiver.

Nico Robin rested her chin on the back of her hand, lost in thought.

Mr. 5's failure had caught her somewhat by surprise.

His explanation had been embellished and concealed quite a bit, but Robin had still heard what he had left unsaid.

The newcomer who had just entered the Grand Line seemed to have dealt with Mr. 5 effortlessly.

Plenty of Crocodile's subordinates were stronger than Mr. 5, but perhaps no more than two could have done that.

Interesting...

A smile appeared on Robin's face. She strode into the lavish casino hall.

At the front of the hall, Crocodile held a glass of red wine and chatted with a guest, looking every bit the respectable gentleman.

Robin stepped beside him and said quietly, "Boss, there's been a change of plans."

Crocodile's gaze sharpened slightly. He exchanged a few more pleasantries with the guest, then returned to his office.

"What happened?" Crocodile lit a cigar and spoke calmly.

Robin replied without haste, "Mr. 9 acted on his own and tried to kill the newcomer. It seems the newcomer turned the tables on him."

Anger flashed in Crocodile's eyes. "Useless fool. He dared disobey my orders!"

Ignoring his anger, Robin continued, "When Mr. 5 arrived, he attacked the newcomer before confirming who he was."

Crocodile frowned. "He attacked him?"

"...Forget it. If he killed him, so be it. He was just a rookie from the East Blue. We can find someone else to recruit."

Robin shook her head. "No. Mr. 5 was defeated too."

Crocodile took a long drag on his cigar. "He beat Mr. 5?"

"Yes." Robin nodded. "After learning Baroque Works wanted to recruit him, he was unhappy with the position you'd offered."

"Interesting."

Crocodile considered it with growing interest.

If the newcomer could beat Mr. 5, the Mr. 9 position he had offered really was too low.

Perhaps he should give him Mr. 5's position instead.

And Mr. 9—that worthless fool had defied his orders. He would have to be dealt with.

Seeing Crocodile hesitate, Robin added, "The newcomer still had strength to spare against Mr. 5. We should test how strong he really is first."

Crocodile nodded and thought for a moment. "Mr. 2 has finished his mission. Send him."

Robin acknowledged the order and turned to leave, but Crocodile added, "Go with him."

"If Mr. 2 can't beat him either, bring him to me yourself. I'll have a talk with him."

Robin paused, then pulled down the brim of her cowboy hat. "Understood."

Back on Whiskey Peak, Noil was living like a king.

Once the bounty hunters recovered from the shock of his Conqueror's Haki, they treated him with utmost respect, fawning over his every move.

It was as though someone had given them orders.

They treated Noil like their direct superior, serving him good food and drink all day long.

As for Mr. 9, who had tried to kill him, Noil woke the next day to find him gone.

It seemed they had dealt with him internally.

The numbered agent who replaced him was a tall, thin man with a crown on his head and two 10s written on his face.

On the day of his promotion, the man changed the numbers on his face to 9.

Noil had no idea what the point of that was.

Then he thought about it. Wasn't this the man who would later partner with Princess Vivi when she infiltrated Baroque Works?

And so, with the new Mr. 9 leading the staff in waiting on him, Noil spent several pleasant days doing absolutely nothing.

Finally, on the third day, the long-dormant system woke up.

Noil had waited long enough. "System, tell me what the upgrade does."

The system's cold voice rang out for the first time in days. "The system has corrected issues with the Copy Cards and unlocked new functions."

"First, the host's talent slots have increased from seven to ten."

"Second, the system has unlocked the talent catalog."

"Third, talent fusion is now available."

Robin, the Elegant Beauty

"Could you explain that properly?" Noil asked.

Aside from the increase from seven talent slots to ten, he hadn't understood a thing.

The system explained, "Whenever the host replaces an old talent with a new one, the old talent will be added to the catalog."

"Talents stored in the catalog can be retrieved at any time, but each retrieval has a three-month cooldown."

Noil's eyes widened in delight.

That was perfect.

From now on, he could store talents he had copied but didn't need, then bring them back when he did.

More importantly, there were no conditions for retrieving them from the catalog!

As for the cooldown, that hardly mattered.

Three months? He could wait that long.

Still smiling, Noil asked, "What does talent fusion do?"

"Any talent can be fused with another talent of the same quality. Fusion raises its quality and may alter its abilities."

"Each talent can only be fused once. After fusion, it cannot be replaced and becomes a permanent talent."

Noil pondered that. This new function was good too.

An immediate increase in quality and a chance for the talent to change were certainly welcome.

What troubled him was that a fused talent could never be replaced.

With the catalog, the ways Noil could fight would only grow more varied.

If he had enough slots, he could even wield nine Devil Fruit abilities at once.

But then he would have no talent boosts for hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, or Haki.

Fusing a talent meant locking down a slot, so he had to choose carefully.

Noil considered how to arrange his talent slots.

His innate talent, Otherworldly Guest, could not be replaced.

Besides, it was what kept him handsome. Maybe fusing and upgrading it would make it even better.

He could reserve three other slots for the Three Types of Haki.

For Armament Haki, for example, he could copy and fuse Garp's and Zephyr's talents.

For Observation Haki, he could seek out Fujitora's and Enel's.

Add swordsmanship and physical ability, and Noil already had six talents he could more or less commit to fusing.

That left four slots for copying Devil Fruit abilities.

Just imagine when Noil met Ace someday.

One moment they would be trading Fire Fists, and the next Noil could hit him with a volcanic blast of magma.

It would open up countless possibilities in battle.

"The system has also revised its Copy Card reward mechanism. Future rewards will be Universal Talent Copy Cards."

"Universal Talent Copy Cards can copy talents of any quality."

Noil froze, then quickly asked, "What about the gold Copy Card I saved?"

The system paused. "All previous versions of Copy Cards have been reclaimed."

"You mother—"

Noil was about to let loose when the system explained, "As compensation, they have been converted into three Universal Talent Copy Cards."

At the word "compensation," Noil swallowed his curse and nodded in satisfaction.

One gold card and a pile of white cards for three universal cards.

He had come out well ahead.

With the Copy Card issue settled, Noil turned his attention inward and looked at the catalog.

Sure enough, it contained talents he had replaced before, including Stamina Boost and Village Police Fighting Style.

Only then did Noil relax.